06/28/07 Green Marketing

In marketer's mad dash to make virtually every product we come in contact with green when is enough enough! I mean come-on, how green can a chain saw really be? Home Depot has listed an electric powered chain saw as part of over 60,000 products they now offer under their eco-options label by virtue of the fact that it is electric not gas powered. Now if that's the case I should feel blissfully sustainable rather than constantly frustrated when wrangling with the cord on my electric hedge trimmer that invariably tangles and unplugs. While I get a eco- demerit for using a gas blower on my long driveway, no worries, I can recoup my carbon credits by sweeping the garage with an old fashioned broom made from, Sorghum vulgare ,i.e.; natural broomcorn. Oh my, broom grass typically comes from Mexico so how do I know if it was sustainably grown and harvested? Simply stated, "green" has become nothing more than the latest TUPS, "Trade Up Profit Strategy" for marketers and without regulated certified standards is meaningless marketing jargon.